Conventionally, as a flat thin display device, a liquid crystal display (LCD) device using a liquid crystal, a plasma display device using plasma, and the like have been put into practical use.
The LCD device is a display device in which a backlight device is installed, and an image is displayed such that when a voltage is applied, an arrangement of liquid crystal molecules changes to pass or block light from the backlight. The plasma display device is a display device that displays an image such that a voltage is applied to a gas sealed in a substrate to create a plasma state, and ultraviolet light generated by energy generated when an original state is returned from the plasma state is irradiated to a phosphor and thus converted to visible light.
Meanwhile, in recent years, a light-emitting type display device using an organic electroluminescence (EL) device in which a device itself emits light when a voltage is applied has been developed. The organic EL device changes from a ground state to an excited state when energy is received by electrolysis and emits energy of a difference as light when the ground state is returned from the excited state. An organic EL display device displays an image using light emitted from the organic EL device.
Unlike the LCD device that requires the backlight, the light-emitting type display device does not require the backlight since the device emits light by itself. Thus, the light-emitting type display device can be configured thinner than the LCD device. Further, compared to the LCD device, the organic EL display device is excellent in a moving image characteristic, a viewing angle characteristic, color reproducibility, and the like and thus has attracted attention as a next generation flat thin display device.
In this circumstance, as stated in the following Patent Literature 1, in a light-emitting type display device such as an organic EL display, a technique of reducing an electric current flowing through the panel to less than a maximum current and reducing peak brightness based on information of a video signal from a panel protection standpoint has been known.